Other books that might interest you

• 

  The People of the Abyss

  Jack London

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Jack London lived for a time within the grim and grimy world of the East End of London, where half a million people scraped together hardly enough on which to survive. Even if they were able to work, they were paid only enough to allow them a pitiful existence. He grew to know and empathise with these forgotten (or ignored) people as he spoke with them and tasted the workhouse, life on the streets, ... and the food, which was cheap, barely nutritious, and foul.He writes about his experiences in a fluid and narrative style, making it very clear what he thinks of the social structures which created the Abyss, and of the millionaires who live high on the labours of a people forced to live in squalor. "... The food this managing class eats, the wine it drinks, ... the fine clothes it wears, are challenged by eight million mouths which have never had enough to fill them, and by twice eight million bodies which have never been sufficiently clothed and housed."

  Show book

• 

  The 39 Steps

  John Buchan

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  When Richard Hannay returns to London after an action-packed life in Rhodesia, he finds life unbearably dull. He is on the point of leaving the city in search of adventures, when mystery and intrigue turns up at his door in the shape of Franklin Scudder, Hannay’s neighbour, who turns out to be a spy trying to escape the clutches of a shady international organisation, bent on sparking a European war. 
  
  
  When Scudder is mysteriously murdered and all the evidence seems to point to Hannay himself, he escapes to Scotland, bearing Scudder’s cryptic coded notebook, which he struggles to decipher. Hannay manages by cunning, skilful disguise and sheer pluck to keep one step ahead of his ruthless pursuers…and eventually works out the cipher to read Scudder’s mysterious notes, which refer to the 39 steps and the enigmatic Black Stone. But can Hannay solve the puzzle, thwart the criminals, and clear his name before Europe is plunged into turmoil?

  Show book

• 

  The Gold Bug

  Edgar Allan Poe

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Poe's gripping tale of a treasure hunt. When the reclusive adventurer and naturalist LeGrande finds an unusual beetle, he believes he has discovered a rare new species. But he little suspects that the discovery will set him on the trail of pirates, buried treasure and the restoration of his family fortunes.

  Show book

• 

  The Scarlet Letter

  Nathaniel Hawthorne

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  'Ah, but let her cover the mark as she will, the pang of it will be always in her heart.' 
  A tale of sin, punishment and atonement, The Scarlet Letter exposes the moral rigidity of a 17th-Century Puritan New England community when faced with the illegitimate child of a young mother. Regarded as the first real heroine of American fiction, it is Hester Prynne's strength of character that resonates with the reader when her harsh sentence is cast. It is in her refusal to reveal the identity of the father in the face of her accusers that Hawthorne champions his heroine and berates the weakness of Society for attacking the innocent. 
  The Scarlet Letter by Hawthorne, the bestselling author, is a classic that delves into the moral rigidity of a 17th-Century Puritan New England community. This bestseller is a timeless exploration of societal norms and personal strength. 
  For fans of George Eliot (Middlemarch), Henry James (The Turn of the Screw), Leo Tolstoy (The Kreutzer Sonata, and Other Stories 1889 annotated), Herman Melville (Bartleby, the Scrivener), and Charlotte Brontë (The Professor).

  Show book

• 

  Frey and his Wife

  Maurice Henry Hewlett

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Not Yet Available

  Show book

• 

  Notes from the Underground

  Fyodor Dostoevsky

  • 0
  • 0
  • 0

  Dostoevsky's novella " Notes from the Underground" is part embittered monologue and part brief descriptions of anecdotes from the anonymous writer's life. As the author himself states: 
  "The author of the diary and the diary itself are, of course, imaginary. Nevertheless it is clear that such persons as the writer of these notes not only may, but positively must, exist in our society, when we consider the circumstances in the midst of which our society is formed." 
  The Russia of the mid 19th century was a period in which the society was awash with a myriad of philosophical ideas as it became increasingly influenced by the West. The writer instinctively reacts against Utopian ideals and sees in himself the proof that such a philosophy is doomed.   
  Head Stories Audio presents "Notes from the Underground" by Fyodor Dostoevsky, narrated by Simon Hester. With original music.

  Show book